Chapter 52

"Lily-"

"Lily, wake up."

"Wake up! You need to wake up, now!"

Lily's eyes suddenly shot open as Six's voice rang through her pained mind, an odd feeling rushing through her interlacing with the pain and aches coursing through her body.

Where was she?

What had happened?

How did she get here?

"Hey, easy there, I'm here with you." Six said as he appeared by her side. "Just take slow and deep breaths, then take in your surroundings."

Doing just that Lily forced her breathing to slow down, making sure to take as deep a breath as possible before slowly exhaling.

Her mind steadily began to calm down, the adrenaline and confusion fading as she looked around.

Trees, tall pine like ones that reached unbelievably high, surrounded her.

Large rocks and rich earth formed the ground, the scent of petrichor hung in the air as gray clouds and a light fog blanketed the area.

Cautiously she looked around a bit more, though she spotted no threats, instead only a magic circle surrounding her.

"Wha-" Lily began, only to stop as she began coughing, her dry throat causing irritation and catching her off guard.

"Don't speak right now, not until we find you a drink." Six says as he looks around. "The circle will protect you from whatever this place is right now, just try to remember how you got here… we need you to be mentally sound before moving, otherwise you could be swept away again."

How she got here… right, how did she get here again?

Quietly she began to trace back her memories, trying to find the correct path.

Her most recent memory was… right, dinner with Vonder and Aida, a fun little celebration after passing the test.

Then she went back to the guild to rest up, getting a good night's sleep.

Next was waking up and speaking with Night, the guild leader happily telling her a bit about Vonder.

That was when Vonder and Gray showed up, Gray to deliver the pendant and Vonder to take her out on her first patrol.

Then they arrived in the forest… and it all goes blank.

Something must've happened when they entered the woods, what though?

What could've caused this feeling of pain and fog in her mind… and why did six draw a circle of some kind?

"The circle is to protect you from the creatures and magic inhabiting this forest." Six calmly states while looking back at her. "I can hear your thoughts, that's how I can understand you without the need for talking."

With a nod Lily stands up and looks around, taking in the greenery around her, though not seeing a clear way out.

Did Six know what happened?

"No, my memory cuts off at the same point as yours, which normally should be impossible given my curse… though I suppose between this form and the forest itself anything could happen." he calmly states as he walks forward and crouches down, observing some kind of tracks in the ground.

Upon moving closer to Six she saw the tracks in greater detail, they looked small, shoe-like as well.

It stops right at the edge of the magic circle before trailing back off into the woods.

"Well those tracks could only be a couple of things, a Dwarf… an Isen, or even possibly a child." Six says with hesitance in his voice, clearly a bit worried as he tries to figure this out.

Lily pauses, tilting her head a bit and thinks, what's an Isen?

"Isen are little folk, ones that tend to live in plains and such, they've got a long history and it'd take me all day to tell you about them." he lightly replies before looking back at her. "Come on, we should get out of here now, following the tracks might give us a lead out of here."

With a nod Lily carefully follows behind him, heading into the forest with an air of worry and intrigue about her.

Admittedly the forest was rather beautiful, peaceful even aside from the implication of being attacked.

The tall trees and the scent coming off of them mixed with the petrichor in the air relaxed her, the few birds that were chirping keeping her and Six company as they walked.

Even the footprints didn't seem that mysterious looking at them, possibly a traveler or wanderer.

"I'd be a little more cautious of places like these, looks can be deceiving, after all who's to say the one who left these tracks isn't responsible for your current predicament?" Six calmly states while crouching down once more, now examining the tracks closer. "That's strange, the tracks end here…"

Lily walked up to the spot and looked forward. Something about the place felt familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

It felt like the area was being… warped, like the forest from the island, though she couldn't tell why.

Last time she hadn't been attacked or anything, just lost in a near endless maze… so why? What was so different this time?

"That was an enchantment to protect the entrance and the creatures residing there… this is someone willfully altering our perception, trying to hide something from our view." Six states as he stands up now, turning back to her with a bit of a worried expression. "From this point on there's no telling where we'll end up in these woods, be prepared for anything."

With a solemn nod and a deep breath Lily looks forward, approaching the end of the trail and taking one step further.

A rush of energy washes over her, distorting her vision and making her stumble for a moment, upon clearing up she found herself in a different location.

A clearing is where she found herself, the ground much more densely patted down into a dirt trail.

This place… yes, this place was familiar.

She'd been here with Vonder and Aida, they had indeed made it to this part of the forest, but what else had happened?

There were no signs of life to be seen.

No footprints.

No items left behind.

Not even a piece of cloth that could've caught on something.

Perhaps now would be a good chance to try and remember? They were in a familiar location after all.

"If you wish to try and remember then by all means, go ahead, I'll keep you safe for now." Six calmly says while taking a seat on the ground before closing his eyes. "Don't worry, I said I'll keep you safe, just trust me."

Lily sighs a little before pacing around, trying to find anything that'd trigger a memory of some sort before simply sitting beside Six.

It seemed as though if she wanted to remember then she'd have to do it on her own, no clues or tricks.

Cautiously she closed her eyes and began trying to remember anything about this clearing, about why her mind was so damn foggy.

"Just relax, focus on those two specifically, just like back in the void." Six lightly comments before taking a deep breath himself.

Lily nodded a little as she remembered that moment, perhaps she could see another magic trail?

With a deep breath she focused on the memories of the forest, focusing on Vonder and Aida as she does so.

Slowly the memories begin coming back to her… something about a strange creature being found here.

"Come on Lily, surely you've heard of the Walker at least once before." Vonder's voice cuts through the fog, the memory becoming crystal clear to her. "It's only one of the biggest legends in all of Terminus."

Standing in front of her with a kind smile was Vonder, Aida happily resting on his shoulder.

"Sorry, can't say I have, the Island I started on didn't really have a lot of information." Lily replied loosely as she looked around, taking in the scenery of the area around them.

"Well, it's a creature said to be born of a star, one that can move between worlds and change reality as it pleases." Vonder states as he moves forward. "If it really has been spotted then it could be our best chance of either breaking the barrier or finding the one who sat it up."

"Really? And what if it's just another rumor?" Aida asks, clearly not believing in this Walker nonsense as she huffs a bit.

Vonder stops as they get to the center of the clearing. "Well if it is just a rumor then we wait and pursue the next lead, just like we've always done." His smile never falters as he says this… though he misses something.

A shadow, one growing ever closer.

The woods go silent and then a creature emerges from the woods.

A glowing entity wrapped in a dirty cloak, a surprising surge of mana coming off it.

Lily tries to reach for Vonder, to warn him, but it's too late.

Everything goes dark as the memory fades away and Lily is snapped awake.

There she sits in a cold sweat, trying to process everything that'd just happened, almost missing the tinge of music in the air.

Looking up she sees a twirling trail of blue and red hanging in the air, just like back then.

Would this lead to where she needed to go? She had to know.

Quickly she stood up and followed the trail, Six frantically following her.

The forest seemed to warp and distort around her but she didn't care, she needed to follow the trail, to see where it led.

Hopefully to Vonder and Aida, if Lily was in this state then who knows what happened to them?

The trail goes on for a while, the music coming from it turning into clear notes of a music box, a haunting melody that Lily wouldn't picture for either of them.

The worn out tone and fading rhythm echoing in her mind made Lily's blood run cold, her body coming to a halt as she arrived at a new location.

Standing before her was a cave, deep and dark with no sign of life in sight.

The trail stretched onward into the darkness, the haunting melody calling to her.

Yet Lily could barely bring herself to move, now realizing the difference between melodies.

The one from before was light, flexible, unshaped even… perfectly reminding her of Ryder.

This though? The melody of these two people she was trusting… it was nothing like that, no… the best way to describe their melody was one word.

Fear.